1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of concrete boom valve apparatus in general, and in particular to an add-on valve apparatus installed on the terminal discharge end of a conventional concrete boom.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,520,333; 3,552,440; 3,556,116; and 4,437,646, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse concrete discharge pipe valve arrangements. While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for their intended purpose and function, only the Allen '116 patent provides a means for terminating the flow of concrete at the very mouth of the discharge pipe.
As anyone in the construction trade is all too well aware, there is a tremendous amount of waste and damage resulting from excess volumes of concrete falling from the discharge end of a concrete boom in the normal course of operation.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need in the building trades for a new type of concrete boom discharge valve that will positively terminate the flow of concrete at the discharge end of the concrete boom hose, as opposed to having to dump a quantity of the excess concrete within the boom hose at the work site.
The conventional dumping of the excess concrete at the work site poses a potential threat to cars, buildings, roadways, equipment, finished work and construction workers and may result in loss of time, property damage, personal injury and additional labor cost associated with the effort spent in cleaning up the excess discharge.
Obviously, the provision of a new type of concrete boom discharge valve apparatus which will address all of the problems of the majority of the prior art constructions is a stated objective of the present invention.